Housing for electrical devices



June 1932- A. G. STEINMAYER 1,862,720

HOUSING FOR ELECTRICAL DEVICES Filed July 24, 1929 Patented June 14, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALWIN G. STEINMAYER, F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO LINE MATERIAL COMPANY, OF SOUTH MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE HOUSING FOR ELECTRICAL DEVICES Application filed July 24,

mount certain types of fuses, especially expulsion fuses, with their tubes or cartridges fixed to the door of the housing to be movable therewith, or to pivotally mount them independent of the door, but either method 0 required that the discharge end of the fuse be extendable into and through an opening in the bottom of the housing as the door was closed or the fuse moved, and to N permit this movement of the fuse, the opening was considerably larger thanthe tube, and very often the discharge end of the tube was merely terminated in line with the opening but inside of the housing. With these constructions, it was impossible to tightly close the housings and as a result the gases incidental to the rupture of the fuse frequently entered the housings and caused arc-over between the contacts which destroyed the entire fuse. I

It is, therefore, anobject of this invention to provide a novel means of mounting an explusion fuse within a conventional housing whereby the discharge end of the fuse may be communicated with the atmosphere and the housing substantially sealed against the entrance of gases to its interior, without in any way affecting the opening and closing of the housing door.

And a more specific object of this invention resides in the provision of a door for a housing of the character described which has a portion thereof forming the bottom of the housing and wherein an opening is formed to receive the discharge end of the fuse which, being carried'by the door, may snugly fit the opening to insure a relatively tight closure for the housing when the door is closed. v

With the above and other objects in view which will. appear as the "description proceeds, my invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described and more particularly defined by the ap- 1929. Serial No. 380,663.

pended claims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the herein disclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claims.

In the accompanying drawing, I have illustrated two complete examples of the physical embodiment of my invention constructed accordin to the best mode Ihave so far devised or the practical application of the principles thereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view through a fuse structure embodying my invention, parts thereof being shown in elevation;

Figure 2 is across sectional view taken through Figure 1 on the plane of the line 22;' and Figure 3 is a View similar to Figure 1, illustrating a slightly modified form of my invention.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawing, in which like numerals designate like parts throughout the several views, the numeral 5' represents a housing constructed in accordance with my invention and formed, in the present instance, of wood. The open bottom andfront of the housing is closed bya door 6 having a member 7 extended laterally therefrom which forms the bottom of the housing when the door is closed. The door is hingedly connected with the housing by metal bracket arms 8 fixedto the opposite sides of the housing adjacent its bottom with a portion thereof projected downwardy and apertured to receive pivot pins 9 which also extend,

through apertures in downwardly projecting portions 10 of a metal bracket member 11 fixed to the lower end of the door 6 by bolts 12 or the like. A suitable latch 13 pivotally mounted on the upper end of the door secures the same in closed position and also provides means by which the door may be opened.

The back 14 of the housing has a suitable supporting bracket 15, only a portion of which is illustrated, fixed thereto and also mounts a pair of insulators 16 to the outer ends of which line terminals 17 are secured in any suitable manner to receive the adjacent ends of lines 18 and 19. The line terminals 17 also have clips 20 fixed thereto which are adapted to receive contacts 21 and 22 fixed to the upper and medial portions of an expulsion fuse, indicated generally as set at 23.

The expulsion fuse is of conventional construction and comprises a tube or car tridge 24 formed of insulating material within which a fuse element 25 is positioned to be electrically connected at its upper end with the contact 21 and to have its lower end passed outwardly of the adjacent end of the tube and directed upwardly along its outside, as at 26, to be electrically connected with the contact 22, to thus bridge the line terminals 17 when the contacts 21 and 22 are engaged with the clips 20.

A second tube 27 carried by a nut member 28 which is treaded onto the contact 22 to secure the end 26 of the fuse element thereto encloses the lower end of the tube 24 beneath the contact 22 and the portion 26 of the fuse element projected upwardly along the outside of the tube.

The expulsion fuse is attached to the door 6 by having the medial portion of its tube 24 disposed within the trough of a cradle member 29 fixed to the door, where it is secured by a cross piece 30 connectedwith the cradle by screws 31 or the like.

To insure the gases incidental to the volatilization of the fuse being conducted out of the housing, the member 7 of the door which forms the bottom of the housing is provided with an opening 32 to snugly receive the larger or auxiliary tube 27 of the fuse which projects therebeneath and thus closes the only entrance to the interior of the housing when the door is closed.

With this construction, volatilization of the 'fuse upon rupture and the consequent expansion of gases has no injurious efi'ect upon the housing as all gases are positively vented exteriorly thereof and all possibility of their entrance to its interior is prevented by the substantially gas tight closure this novel construction affords.

In the modification illustrated in Figure 3, the member 7 which is carried by the door is shorter to permit the point of pivot for the door to be raised and thus obviate the necessity of the downwardly projecting bracket members 8 and 10. In this construction, the member 7 does not form the entire bottom for the housing but only closes an opening 33 extending from the front of the housing to the front of a bottom wall 3'4.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be readily apparent. to those skilled in the art to which an invention of the character described appertains, that I provide a housing for an expulsion fuse and a manner of mounting the fuse therein, which permits the housing to be substantially tightly sealed upon closing of its door to positively exclude all gases incidental to the rupture of the fuse, without in any way interfering with the opening and closing of the door.

hat I claim as my invention is:

1. In a device of the character described, a. housing having line terminals therein, a door swingingly connected with the housing adapted to close the housing and having an opening extending through a portion thereof, and an expulsion fuse carried by the door in spaced relation thereto but having itsdischarge end snugly received within the opening in the door to vent the gases incidental to volatilization of the fuse exteriorly of the housing, and contacts carried by the fuse and engageable with the line terminals as the door is closed.

2. In a device of the character described, a housing having line terminals therein, a hinged door adapted to close the housing and having an opening in the lower portion t-hereof which is the only means of communication to the interior of the housing when the door is closed, and a fuse carried by the door so as to be positioned substantially entirely within the housing when the door is closed and including a tube having its lower portion closely fitted in said opening and having contacts engageable with the line terminals when the door is closed.

3. A device of the character described comprising a housing having line terminals therein, a door connected with the housing and movable to close the same, and an expulsion fuse carried by the door to be positioned substantially entirely within the housing when the door is closed and having contacts engageable with the line terminals, a portion of the fuse being closely fitted in and extending through an opening formed wholly in part of the door to conduct gases generated upon rupture of the fuse exteriorly of the housing.

at. A device of the character described comprising a housing having line terminals therein, a door connected with the housing and adapted to close the same,a fuse tube carried by the door to be positioned substantially entirely within the housing when the door is closed and having one end closely fitted in and projected through an opening formed wholly therein to communicate the tube interior with the atmosphere, contacts mounted on the tube and engageable with the line terminals as the door is closed, and a fuse element bridging the contacts.

5. In a device of the character described, a housing having its front and bottom substantially open, line terminals therein, a door swingingly connected with the housing and adapted to close its open front, a member extended from the door to close the bottom of the housing, said member having an openingformed entirely therein, a fuse carried by the door and having its discharge end closely fitted in said opening, and contacts carried by the fuse engageable with the line terminals as the door is closed.

6. In a device of the character described, a housing having its front and bottom substan tially open, line terminals therein, a door connected with the housing and adapted to be swung over its open front to close the same, a member extended from the door and arranged to close the bottom of the housing when the door is swung to closed position, said member having an opening formed entirely therein, a fuse adapted to electrically bridge the line terminals when the door is closed, and a member substantially enclosing the fuse and having a portion closely fitted in the said member opening and serving to conduct gases generated upon rupture of the fuse out of the housing.

7. In a device of the character described, a partially open housing, a member connected with the housing and adapted to be swung to a position completely closing the housing, said member having an opening formed entirely therein, an expulsion fuse carried by the member and having its discharge end closely fitted in and extended through the opening, and contacts on the expulsion fuse adapted to engage the line terminals when said member is swung to said position.

8. In a device of the character described a partially open housing, closure means hingedly connected with the housing and adapted to completely close the housing and having an opening in a part thereof, an expulsion fuse carried by the closure means and comprising a tube of insulating material, contacts on the tube, a fuse element having one end electrically connected with one contact and having its other end passed beyond one end of the tube and bent back upon its exterior to be electrically connected with the other contact, said contacts being engageable with the line terminals when the closure means is moved to closed position, and an enclosing member adapted to enclose the portion of the fuse element extending along the exterior of the tube and the adjacent portion of the tube and being snugly received in the opening in the closure means whereby gases generated upon rupture of the fuse are conducted out of the housing.

9. In a device of the character described, the combination with a housing having its front and bottom substantially open, of a closure hingedly connected with the housing and movable to simultaneously close the front and bottom thereof, line terminals within the housing, a fuse carried by-the closure adapted to bridge the line terminals when the closure is moved to closed position and having its discharge end extended through an opening formed entirely in the closure to conduct gases generated upon rupture of the fuse out of the housing, and a tubular member carried ALWIN G. STEINMAYER. 

